Trollhunters: Second Generation
by BlackCat896
Summary: James Draal Lake is a normal 15-year-old boy who lives with his mother Claire and his little sister Nia. His whole life, he thought his father was dead, and that the old, sleepy town of Arcadia was the most boring place on the planet. Well, he was dead wrong. James embarks on an epic adventure, revealing truths as clear as Daylight, which very well may be his to command.
1. Prologue: Wedding Day

"You may now kiss the bride." Said Blinky, pride shining in his eyes.

Claire practically threw herself at Jim's face. He pulled her into a passionate kiss.

The crowd of both humans, trolls and wizards were cheering loudly.

When they finally pulled apart, Jim looked at his new wife and simply said,

"I love you." Because there was nothing more that needed to be said.

A lot of things had happened, they had won a huge war against Morgana's daughter, Gwendolyn the gruesome, and had made many new friends along the way.

As Jim lead Claire by the arm down the aisle, their family crowded around them, hugging them and congratulating them.

"Well you finally did it." Said Toby, holding Darci, his wife's hand.

She let go and gave Claire a big hug.

"Hey thanks again for coming all the way from Arcadia to be my best man." Jim said to Toby

"I wouldn't miss it for the world." He replied.

"My little boy has already grown up!"

Jim turned around to see his mother, Barbara and her fiance Strickler.

"Young Atlas is not quite so young anymore is he?" Asked Strickler.

Jim gave his mom a big hug.

"Thank you for everything Mom!" He said.

She sniffed and wiped her eyes.

notEnrique scuttled over and Claire picked him up and cuttles him.

"Good job.. sis." He said.

"Are you crying?" She asked laughing.

"Now, now. Let's not get sentimental…"

The rest of the day was a blur, they did the bouquet toss, (Darci caught it.) They had cake for the humans and premium titanium for the trolls, (some of that cake ended up in Jim's face.) And they took pictures with the fam.

Finally when the day was over, Claire and Jim sat on the outcrop overlooking the sunset.

"Remember the last time we did this?" Claire asked.

Jim laughed.

"I couldn't ask you to the spring fling!"

"Seems like it happened to million years ago."

Claire scooted closer to Jim.

"Will you hold me, my love?" she asked.

He pulled her closer

"Always and forever."

_7 years later, someone woke up. Her name was Morgana._


	2. Intro

Hi everyone. It's me. This is my second Trollhunters book and I'm really excited for this!

A few notes: (PLEASE READ)

**-Strickler and Numora can change into humans again**

**-Claire now has a spear called Excalibur which is stored in a magic ring**

**-One of my OCs is named Lotus, she has pink dyed hair, pink eyes and is a sorceress. She married Douxie eventually. She trained Claire in the art of magic. She has a bow and arrow.**

**-I haven't finished 3Below yet, so Aja and Krel will not be in this book, sorry!**

**-Arrrgh and notEnreque are with the other trolls in NJ**

**-Merlin is dead. Yes, he was a jerk but he was somewhat wise and powerful and he died honorably in the end.**

That's all for this page, Hope you enjoy the rest of the story, happy reading and KIC :)

-Blackcat


	3. Not So Normal

**Ch. 1 : Not So Normal**

* * *

Hi. My name is James Draal Lake, also known as James Lake the third. It's kinda embarrassing when people call me "the third"

So just call me James.

I'm 15 years old, my birthday is coming up, and I reeeeally hope my mom will let me get my drivers licence, but she probably won't.

I live in the town of Arcadia Oaks, the place I used to think was the most boring place on earth, but, if you look close enough, things aren't always as they seem.

I live with my mom and my little sister.

My mom's name is Claire Lake, and she is awesome. I know a lot of people complain about their mothers, but my mom is the best. She has long brown hair with purple streaks, and it is usually tied up in a low bun. She works as an online history tutor for the local colleges, and everyone I know loves her. She is also really strong.

My sister's name is Petunia, but everyone calls her Nia.

She is 10 years old, but everyone thinks that she is really mature for her age. She has reddish-black hair and deep brown eyes. They say that if you look into them long enough, she can see through your soul.

She is really shy out in public, but she is nice to everyone. She and I are really close. She loves to bake, and makes the best chocolate chip cookies. Mom says she gets her cooking streak from Dad. She also has a medical condition that makes her eyes and ears _too_ good. She has to wear sunglasses whenever it's sunny outside, and noise-cancelling headphones to school. Mom was worried that the kids at school would make fun of her, but they actually aren't that mean.

I myself have light brown hair and blue eyes, and a medical condition called_ xeroderma pigmentosum_. It means I can't be out in the sun for more than 5 minutes or else my skin will start to burn like tissue paper. Apparently my dad had this too, which is probably why our house has tinted windows.

I also love theater. I get that from mom. She gave me all her old Hamlet stuff, and some of the props from her other plays she did when she was younger. She always tells us stories of how she met dad in a play called Romeo and Juliet.

I love the stories.

Whenever my mom talks about my dad, she gets this look in her eyes. It's like they glaze over. She doesn't have any pictures of him in the house, except one taken with him, Mom and Uncle Toby when they were 16. He looked a lot like me.

Dad died when I was 5, Nia was a newborn. I don't remember much about him, but the things that I do remember are all good things. His deep voice and his strong, but gentle hands. Mom tells us every day about how much he loved us.

Apparently he was a soldier or something. He went on an emergency mission and never came back. Or, at least that's what mom said. Whenever I try to ask more about him, she just shuts down. I guess she hasn't gotten over him yet.

Me and Nia have to walk to school, so 3 years ago, mom enrolled us in Fencing and Mixed Martial Arts classes, because apparently, the crime rate has gone up in Arcadia since my mom was a kid. I'm top of my class, but nobody really likes me. While my sister isn't bothered in her school, I'm considered a freak in mine. I'm sick of it.

My story begins on a Thursday, I had a Spanish essay to turn in, and I woke up with the expectation that it was going to be another completely boring day.

You can guess how that turned out.


	4. Yes, I'm a Frickin Vampire

**Ch 2. Yes, I'm a Frickin Vampire**

_Beep! Beep! Beep!_

_Good morning Arcadia Oaks! I'm your host, Andrew Britt and this morning it looks like we're going to have a 20% chance of rain with a high of- *_Click!*

I shut off my radio and lay in bed for a few extra minutes before pulling on some clothes, the smell of fresh bread wafting up from down stairs.

I guess Nia got up first.

I finished brushing my teeth and shoved my homework into my already disorganized backpack, pulling on my dark blue hoodie and red converse.

I opened my bedroom door and headed down stairs, dropping my backpack by the front door.

"Good morning mom." I said as I entered the kitchen. She was sitting at the table, typing something on the computer.

"Good morning James." she replied. She looked tired.

Nia came out of the kitchen wearing red oven mitts and carrying a tin of freshly baked muffins.

"Hey guys." she said cheerfully, setting the tin down on a coaster.

"Morning Nia." I took a bite of muffin.

"Wow this is really good, thanks."

"No problem." she replied.

Mom closed her laptop and sipped her coffee.

"Okay, so Nia has MMA after school, and Isaac's mom said that she would pick you guys up from school. James, you can stay at Isaac's house for a little bit, but you have to be back before dinner." she said.

"Got it." I said getting up and grabbing an extra muffin and my backpack.

I headed out the door, calling goodbye to my family and starting down the sidewalk.

The morning was cold and the air was fresh, the sun wasn't out yet, I always walked to school early to avoid it.

Sometimes it sucks to be me.

Just as I was rounding the corner of Stuart's Electronics, someone attacked me from behind.

I jumped and whirled around, only to be met with the laughing face of my best friend, Isaac Domsalski.

"Dude! I totally got you!" he said elbowing me in the side.

"Ha ha, very funny." I said dryly, but I couldn't help but smile.

Isaac was one of those kids who could make you laugh even on rainy days. He was one of my only friends, and definitely one of the only people who didn't make fun of my condition.

I handed him one of my muffins. As he took a bite, his eyes widened with amazement.

"Wow! Your sister made this?"

I nodded.

"She's like… a cooking genius!"

I resumed my walk down the street and Isaac followed me.

"She's a baker actually."

"Same difference."

When we got to school, I decided to go through the usual routine.

When I told Isaac this, he scoffed.

"Really, man? When are you ever going to tell him to stop messing with you?"

I rolled my eyes and flipped my hood up.

"We've been over this before, fighting him would be like committing suiside, he's more than twice my size."

Isaac grinned and elbowed me in the side.

"Come on man, you're the one who's always saying this town is boring. You want some excitement? There you go." He gestured to the guy we were talking about. I just shook my head.

The "he" we were talking about was none other than Sean Hampton, my #1 enemy and childhood bully. He was a hulking brute with more muscles than brain cells, not that he had many in the first place.

He was captain of the football team, and he treated every other student in the school, besides his girlfriend, like slaves. When I say every other, I mean everyone but me. The Freak.

His girlfriend was was none other than Jessica Site, and she was a sight to behold indeed.

(Don't make fun of my vocabulary peasants, I read Shakespeare a lot.)

She was the most beautiful and popular girl in school, but I knew that 80% of her face was actually makeup. She was the captain of the cheerleading squad, and I'm pretty sure the only reason she was dating Sean was because all of her so-called friends told her to.

She also treated me like garbage to keep her popularity up.

"Not today Isaac."

I said goodbye and headed to my first period class

I walked briskly passed Sean and the group of boys he was talking to, hunching my shoulders and desperately hoping that they wouldn't notice me.

Well, most things in my life don't go the way I want them too.

Sean grabbed me by the collar and slammed me against the locker.

It surprisingly didn't hurt that much, but I still gritted my teeth together and tried not to cry out in pain.

"I hi Sean." I said hoarsely.

"Sup Buttmunch! Did you think you could just walk by without saying good morning?"

I shrugged.

"Kinda."

He slapped me hard against the cheek and my eyes watered.

"Awe! Are you cwying?" he said, mimicking a baby voice.

"Well that is the body's natural response to pain, you big-" Isaac called out from behind Sean, who whipped around to glare at him. I gestured for him to back down and he did.

Sean turned his attention back to me.

"Pay up." He spat and I spilled out the daily cash from my pocket. He set me down for a second to count the money.

"You're a dollar short." He said growling.

"No I'm not!" I lied.

A look of confusion passed over his face before he roughly handed the cash to one of his 'Friends'

"Here, you recount." He said.

The startled kid fumbled through the money.

"A-actually he's 3 dollars short Sean." The kid says, unsure.

I grinned sheepishly.

"See… I told you I'm not a dollar shor-"

Sean cut me off by slamming me into the locker again.

"If you think that you can get away that easily," He said, laughing maliciously,

"Then you've got another thing coming."

He pulled back his fist, preparing to punch me, and I tried to shield my eyes with my arms.

"What the HELL is going on here!?" Boomed Mr. Palchuck. He was the football coach, and I could tell that he was one of the only adults who could see through Sean's lies.

Sean promptly dropped me on the floor.

"Oh hi Coach Palchuck!" he said in his usual fake squeaky voice.

"I was just, um… helping James off the floor. He fell."

He picked me up and set me up on my feet. Hard.

Coach looked as if he was going to say something else, but the final bell rang, and everyone started heading to their classes.

I picked up my backpack that had fallen to the floor and started walking to class, but Sean's arm shot out of nowhere and yanked me to him.

"I'll get you later, Worm." he hissed in my ear, then he let me go.

I rolled my eyes and walked to class, rubbing the bruise that was starting to form on the back of my head.

Maybe Isaac was right.

* * *

The final bell rang at the end of the day, and I walked to the front of the room the give Senorita Maria my Spainish essay. I was leaving the classroom with the other students, when she told me to stay.

"Yes ma'am?" I said when all the other kids had left.

"Mr. Lake, It has come to my attention after your last test, that your grades seemed to have slipped."

I shrugged helplessly.

"James, you failed your last test."

My eyebrows shot up. The only thing I could think to say was,

"Don't tell my mom!"

Senorita Maria was not impressed.

"If you don't get your grades back up, I will have to fail you." she said.

I sighed.

"What can I do to make it up to you?" I asked.

She read through some of her papers and finally replied,

"There is a new student coming tomorrow, and I would like you to show them around the school."

I nodded in agreement, and she dismissed me.

When I walked out of the classroom, Isaac met up with me.

"Hey dude, what was the hold up?" he asked.

"I'm Hispanic and I can't speak Spanish." I said blandly.

We continued to walk until we got to the corner of the block where my sister was waiting for the city bus.

"Sup Nia?" Isaac said.

"Hi guys, why are you still here?" she asked him.

"My mom got stuck in afternoon traffic, she should be here soon." He replied.

Me and him sat on a bench in the shade, waiting for our ride.

A group of students swarmed the area in minutes and soon, I caught sight of the one person I very much did not want to see. Sean.

He pushed his way through the small-ish crowd towards where me and Isaac sat.

"Hey Buttmuch! I think your scheduled for pounding!"

I backed farther up into the shadows.

"Isaac," I whispered to my friend,

"Take Nia and go over there." I pointed to the other side of the now growing crowd.

"Dude, what?"

"Just do it, I think I might do what we talked about."

His eyes lit up.

"Okay man." he said and walked away with my little sister.

Sean sauntered over to me, smirking.

"Hey worm, ready to get your face bashed in?" he asked haughty.

"You know...I'd rather not. Maybe we can, negotiate?" I asked hopefully

He yelled and threw himself at me, arms outstretched.

"I guess that is a no." I said and easily side-stepped him.

He stumbled, then whipped back around and punched at me. I easily deflected them with some basic martial arts moves, but I could feel my arms slowly bruising.

"Yea! Go James!" yelled Isaac from the side lines, I looked over and saw my sister, her deep brown eyes shone with worry, but she nodded her head in encouragement.

The next time Sean punched at me, I caught his fist and sent a quick jab towards his face, knocking him straight in the jaw. He stumbled before regaining his balance.

"You're going to pay for that." he growled.

"Oops sorry," I said,

"I'm three dollars short."

He roared with anger and lunged again. I ducked and kicked him in the face. Blood spurted from his nose. He grabbed my lag and twisted it, something in my knee popped.

"Gah!" I cried out in pain. He picked my up by my hood and held me off the ground.

I clawed and bit at his hand, but it was no good.

I was low key screwed.

"What are you gonna do?" he asked.

"Call for daddy? Oh wait, he's dead!"

My face flushed red in anger. Some of the people in the crowd murmured to each other in surprise, but none of them looked like they were going to help me.

He carried my over into the sunlight, and held me up. I hissed as the UV rays started to irritate my skin.

"Ha!" Said Sean.

"You are totally a vampire. Say it! You're a vampire!"

I gasped for air and growled,

"Fine, I'm a vampire."

He laughed.

"Louder."

"I'm a vampire!"

"I still can't hear you!"

"I'M A VAMPIRE! A FRICKIN VAMPIRE!" I yelled.

He and all his friends laughed. While they were distracted I swung my legs and kicked him in the soft spot. He dropped me and gasped in pain.

I took the opportunity to punch him. Then I punched him again. And again. After all he's done to me, it was less than he deserved.

I was going to finish him off, when I felt a gentle hand on my shoulder. I looked up and saw Nia, shaking her head.

"It's enough, you've done him good." she said softly, and I backed off.

Some of the teachers had seen the fight from the school and were heading towards us. The three of us took the liberty of jumping on the bus and Mrs. Domsalski's car, both of which had just pulled up.

"You made your old man proud." Said Isaac as I closed the door.

"Thanks." was all I said as I looked out the window and smiled.


	5. There's a New Girl In Town

**Chapter 3: There's a New Girl in Town **

When I got home, my mom flipped.

"Oh my gosh, James!" she said when I walked in.

"What happened? Are you okay?"

She proceeded to take me into the kitchen, clean my cuts, and put some aloe-vera on my sunburnt crispy face. When she was done she looked me straight in the eyes and said,

"Tell me everything, now."

And I did.

When I was done, she gave me a hug.

"You should have told me you had a bullying problem." she said.

"I didn't want to worry you."

She sighed.

"Honey, I'm your mom, it's my job to worry over you." she pulled away and continued.

"Listen, if I've learned anything it's that most problems are better solved working together. Can you think about that?"

I nodded and gave her another hug before going upstairs. To be honest, I would have loved to tell her more about my life, but I couldn't bring myself to do it.

The worst part is that I'm sure she would understand the most. I had a feeling that there was more to her past than she was telling me. What I didn't know was how soon I was about to find out.

* * *

The next day, my alarm went off earlier than usual, and I left the house earlier than usual. It was the day In promised Senorita Maria that I would show the new student around the school, and I didn't want to be caught in the sun...again.

When I got to school, I poked around for a bit, looking for Sean, but he was nowhere to be... seen. Heh.

I was heading towards my Spanish teacher's classroom when Isaac called me on my cell phone. I picked up and said,

"Hey Isaac, what's up?"

"Where are you, man? I had to walk to school late. Are you still at your house?"

"Nah. I left early. Sorry, I should have told you."

"It's fine, I'll see you there."

I hung up and went into the classroom, surprising Senorita Maria who was setting up some things on her desk.

"Ahh, mister Lake, you are here early."

I nodded.

"Our exchange student should be here in a few minutes, just sit tight while I get some papers from my office." She said, leaving the room.

A few minutes later, Isaac got there.

"Hey dude, sorry for leaving you like that."

"It's fine. Where the Senorita?"

"In her office getting some papers, she said the newbie would be an exchange student, do you mind helping me out?" I asked, jumping up and sitting on one of the desks.

"Sure."

We sat around for a little while, when finally my teacher came back.

I got off the table and got prepared for a super boring tour of the school with this 'exchange student'.

I was definitely not prepared to face the most beautiful creature I have ever seen on the face of planet earth.

A girl walked in. She had fair skin and long blonde hair that was put up into a braid. Her eyes were a piercing ice blue and she had the most exotic birthmarks on the sides of her face, they were small almost perfect circles on the sides of her eyes. As far as I could tell, she wore no makeup but her skin was flawless. She had a certain glow about her as she entered the room, And I could tell by her face, that she was a kind person, completely oblivious to her own natural beauty.

Isaac shut my mouth that had been hanging open.

"Hello." She said. Gosh her voice..

"My name is Lily."

"Uh.." I stuttered. I had never stuttered in my life until this moment.

"M-my name's James, um.. and, uh, this is my friend Isaac." I introduced myself and my friend.

_Way to go James, you made yourself look like an idiot._

I told myself.

"Miss Lilly, James here is going to show you around the school and let you know where your homeroom is, Tú comprende?" Asked Señorita Maria.

The girl, Lily, nodded and my teacher gestured for me to go outside the classroom with her. When Isaac tried to go with me she put out her hand to stop him.

"No, this is his punishment, you go to your first period class and wait for the bell." She said.

_Dang it, dang it, darn._

It was awkwardly silent as we walked through the halls, so I got up the courage to ask,

"So… you're not from here?"

_James you idiot!_

"Oh. Yes!" She said. She had kind of a British accent, but it was something else that I couldn't place.

"I come from Trol- far away from here." she said.

"Me and my mother had to be relocated because of some war."

"Oh." I said, a little surprised.

"I'm really sorry."

"It is nothing worth worrying about, only a few borderline scrimmages, my mother was already planning on moving here, this gave her a good excuse."

"Oh."

We were silent for another few minutes until we got to the cafeteria where a few students were milling about, waiting for school to start. I figured I should at least let her know who to stay away from, since 90% of the newbies that came to our school ended up in disaster within the first day.

"See that girl over there?" I said, pointing to Jessica. Lily nodded.

"That's Jessica Site, the most popular girl in school. Don't talk to her."

"Why not?" Lily asked innocently.

"Her boyfriend is the most powerful guy in the school, plus, she has a history of making new people's lives like yours really not-fun."

"Who's her boyfriend?" Lily asked.

"His name is Sean Hampton, and uh… fortunately for you, he's not here today."

"What does he look like?" asked Lily, who was starting to look a little concerned.

"Uh… you'll know him when you see him. He's like, the tallest guy in the school."

We kept walking. As we crossed over through the cafeteria, I saw Jessica's eyes snapped up from her phone. She and a group of her friend-slaves swaggered over to where me and Lily were walking.

Crap.

"Well, well, who do we have here?" I heard her shrill voice behind me.

I sighed in exasperation and turned around slowly. I opened my mouth to say something, but Jessica pushed past me and began to slowly circle Lily, who was looking very confused and uncomfortable.

"So," hissed Jessica, who was obviously jealous on possibly a number of levels.

"Nice _makeup_. What your secret?"

Lily backed away slowly looking perturbed.

"I-I have no secret! Why would you think that?"

"Okay." I said, stepping between them.

"You." Jessica hissed. She grabbed my arm, her sharp acrylic nails digging into my skin.

"I heard what you did to her boyfriend yesterday, freak. Your going to pay for-"

She broke off and promptly started screaming. It took me a moment to realize that her hair… was on fire.

Lily and I walked quickly away from the situation, slipping past the group of friend-slaves who were screaming and not helping at all.

"Did you see that? Her hair was burning."

I said.

"It must have been a miracle." Lily replied, strangely calm.

"What did you do to her boyfriend to make her so angry?"

She asked.

"Well, you know how I said he's not here today?"

Lily nodded.

"That may have been my fault."

"How so?"

"We… got in a fight, and I hit him in the face a couple of times."

"How brave of you to attempt to fight an opponent of that much greater magnitude. Were you victorious?"

"Uh... yeah."

"Then you should not be ashamed to declare so." Lily said, then she was quiet, thinking about what she was going to say next.

"Why did she call you a… freak?" she asked slowly.

My heart sank. I was hoping that she wouldn't find ask that question. That maybe, I might have another friend besides Isaac to hang out with. And now this new girl would become just as judgmental as all the other kids in the school. I might as well tell her the truth.

"Yeah, well I have this condition that keeps me from going into full sunlight. All the time. It's weird I know." I said as I flipped my hood up, preparing for her to start laughing like pretty much everyone else had done.

"It's not weird."

I stopped.

"What?"

"Where I come from that's practically normal, in fact, you could say most people live underground."

"So, you don't think it's like, strange or anything?" I asked, still unsure.

"Not in the slightest."

I smiled.

* * *

I showed Lily where her first period class was, then went to my classroom and sat down with a dazed grin on my face.

Isaac noticed and frowned.

"Dude what are you smiling about, did everything go ok?" He whispered to me as the class started.

"I'll tell you after school" I replied, opening my textbook.

* * *

After school I filled him in, just like I said I would.

We were sitting outside the school, waiting for his mom to pick us up again, since my mom was at yet another teacher meeting.

"I can't believe she doesn't think I'm weird! She might actually like me."

I said, finishing up my story.

"Yeah, yeah whatever. You said that Jessica's hair magically caught on fire right?"

"Isaac! That's the only thing you paid attention to?" I said.

"Although, now that you mention it, that was really weird."

Isaac shrugged.

"Girls are weird man. Speaking of which..." He pointed across the sidewalk to Lily who was standing besides a white car, waving us over.

We walked over to where she was standing, a little uncertain.

"Hello James, Isaac. I would like to introduce you my mother."

A woman stepped out of the car, and me and Isaac gulped.

She was tall and well built. She had bright pink hair and a beautiful face. It was obvious where Lily got her looks. The only truly unsettling fact about Lily's mother was her eyes. They were bright _pink_.

She stepped out of the car and gave us a warm smile.

"Mother, I would like to introduce Isaac Domsalski, and James." Lily said. She cleared her throat.

"James _Lake_."

Lily's mother's eyes widened slightly.

"It's a pleasure to meet you both." she said. Then she turned to me.

"Your mother is Claire Nunez, correct?"

"Um… yes…?"

"I'm an old friend of hers, would be so kind as to give her this?"

She handed me a golden envelope with the words 'GLORY' printed underneath a picture of a sword, a hammer, and a weird-looking staff.

"Uh… okay." I said.

She and her daughter climbed back into their car, but before they drove off, I heard her murmur something so soft almost missed it.

"You really do have his eyes."

I gasped as they rolled away.

"Dude, what is it?" Isaac asked, concerned.

"That woman… knew my father."


	6. A Glance Into The Past

_**Book of The Shadow Dancer: Chapter 14 **_

_**One Thousand Eighthundred Seven YODD [Year of Daya the Deliverer]**_

_**Friday**_

_I know I haven't written in a while (meaning since the war started), but being a single mother of two is extremely difficult and exhausting . I honestly don't know how Baraua managed it. The real reason I am writing is because something happened today that hasn't happened in a few weeks. But first, let me explain what has been going on for the last 18 years._

_Two years after Jim and I got married, we had our first son, James. It was Blinky's idea to name him after Draal. We had our first daughter five years later. I named her Petunia after the flower. Our children were both quarter-trolls and we're the most adorable little part-whelps all of trollmarket had ever seen. Everyone adored them, especially Blinky and Arrgh._

_It was only a few months after I had Petunia that everything went wrong._

_It was a quiet night. Tobes and Darcy were out of town, and it was just me and Jim in our cozy little house in New Jersey. I remember it like it was yesterday. I was sitting on the couch, Petunia in my arms. Jim was playing with James on the carpet, play-sword fighting with a wooden spoon. Everything was going well._

_Until all of a sudden it no longer was._

_A Shade-Ghost blasted through the house wall, tearing up our living room. Me and Jim leaped up and prepared for battle; neither of us knew what we were dealing with. He and I faced it head on, both of us were extremely wounded by the end of the fight._

_We packed as little as possible and ran to trollmarket with the children. We soon found out that there had been other attacks, and 6 fatalities._

_Both me and Jim knew this meant that there would be another war. One we did not want our children to be a part of. So we went to Merlin._

_We asked Merlin to put a spell on our children, and he did._

_I didn't want to do it, neither did Jim. But we knew it was the best way to keep them safe._

_I watched as they slowly became human, falling into a deep sleep._

_Me and Jim took the Gyre back to Arcadia._

_With Barbara's help, we bought a house not to far from hers._

_The worst part was that our kids would never remember him, Merlin erased all of their early memories._

_It broke my heart to say goodbye to Jim, but he said he would visit and always keep me updated._

_And he was until a few months ago. He started leaving me notes instead of texts or calls, saying that the war was getting bigger._

_Soon, he stopped sending letters altogether for a week or so, long enough for be to worried sick. I'm sure that it was obvious that I was losing sleep to my kids._

_Back to the present, my son came home with a letter he said came from a lady with pink hair and I knew it was Lotus. Last time she spoke, she said she would only come back if something devastating happened, and my former sister in sorcerhood has returned to the place where we first met. The letter was from Jim, I wasted no time to read it._

_You see, Merlin said that nothing can kill a Wizard , and as long as he lived the spell that he put on James and Petunia would last as long as he was alive._

_Well Merlin is dead._

_And the spell is ending._


	7. For the Glory of Whom?

Me and Nia exchanged confused looks as our Mom turned pale, snatched the letter, and ran upstairs to her office to read it. In that order.

"That was… strange." I said slowly when we were alone.

"I need to do something real quick." Said Nia, running towards her room, gently closing the door behind her.

Why do I feel like I'm missing something important? I thought to myself, sighing.

* * *

I went upstairs to my room, unpacked my school stuff, and struggled through an hour of homework before giving up.

I went downstairs to check on Nia who was still in her room doing whatever.

I knocked on the door before opening it.

I hadn't been in Nia's room for a while, but nothing had really changed. It was spotless down to the white dustless baseboards. Her bed was neatly made, all her clothes were folded up neatly in the dresser, her desk was clean and organized, and her bookshelf was arranged alphabetically. Like, who does that? My room had to be the exact opposite.

Nia was sitting cross-legged on her bed reading out of a three-ringed binder that she quickly slammed shut when she saw me enter the room.

"What are you doing in my room?" she asked, tense.

"I just wanted to check on you, plus I have a feeling you know a bit more about… I don't even know what you know about!" I said, amusing myself.

She sighed.

"You'll laugh at me."

"No I won't!"

"It's not important."

"I promise I won't laugh, even I can tell something weird is going on here."

She paused for a minute, then nodded.

"Ever since I was little, I've always had the feeling that something was strangely off. There was always a missing puzzle piece that people seemed to ignore. It drove me crazy." She said.

"So, I… started piecing together things that I found unusual. At first I put it up on a corkboard, but then… I got embarrassed and started doing it in my binder."

She gestured to her lap.

"So.. yeah."

We silent for an awkward Moment before I said,

"What have you discovered detective Petunia?"

She scowled.

"Don't call me that."

She opened her binder again and I leaned over her shoulder to get a better look.

She flipped through her book. It was filled with pictures and sticky notes, with little drawings here and there.

"What is it?"

"I think something happened here in this town a long time ago, and only a few people know about it. The problem is that I'm not sure what."

"I have something that might help." I said, sitting down next to her.

"What's that?"

"Well, you know how I said a lady with pink hair gave me the letter?"

"Yes." she replied.

"I think she used to know dad."

Nia's eyes widened slightly. She quickly wrote something down on a sticky note and placed it in her binder.

"And the symbol on the envelope, it looked kind of like a logo for a company or club... or something."

She gave me a look.

"A _club_. Really?"

"What? I can't be that far off. Plus you said that only certain people know about whatever happened however long ago. This could be them."

"Whatever." she said as she reluctantly wrote it down. Did I mention that Nia hates it when other people give her advice? Well she does and I find it annoying but hilarious.

"Come on, let's go to Isaac's house for a while, it's not like we have anything better to do."

I say, standing up.

"Okay." Nia says.

We grabbed our shoes and jackets, Nia grabbed her binder and we headed out the door. We go to the Domsalski's all the time, so I didn't bother Mom to tell her we were leaving the house.

As we walked down the street, clouds covered the sky and thunder rumbled in the distance, the threat of a thunderstorm looming overhead.

After walking a few blocks, we turned into the driveway of a nice medium-sized house that we had entered many, many times.

We knocked on the door and Mrs. Domsalski answered it.

"Oh hey James! Come on in, Issac was about to head to your house, what a coincidence!" she smiled and led us into the house, closing the door behind her.

Darci Domsalski is a kind and spunky woman who always loves it when we come over. She's a tall woman with curly brown hair that keeps in a bun at the top of her head. She got married to Tobias Domsalski not long after my parents got married.

Me and Nia walked into the house and removed our shoes at the door. Ms. Darci kept her house very tidy and we had been over enough times to know the drill by now.

We entered the kitchen, where uncle Toby was reading the newspaper.

When he saw us, he leaped up from the table and pulled us both into a crushing hug.

"Nia! James! It's good to see you!" he boomed.

Uncle Toby was a big man with a big beard, a big stomach, and a _big_ laugh. He was the taco-eating champion four years in a row, and Mom's friend as long as I can remember.

"Hey uncle Toby." I said, trying to get air into my lungs which might be collapsed now.

"It's nice to see you too."

"Me and James have something to show Issac upstairs." Said Nia.

"Alright then, don't be long. We're having Cappelletti for dinner." Replied Ms. Darcy.

We all hurried upstairs and went into Issac's room. Once we were all inside he closed the door behind us and plopped on his bed.

"So, what's up." He asked. Nia sat down on the floor and opened her binder, pulling out a rough sketch of the mysterious emblem and handing it to him.

"This was on the envelope that lady gave to my Mom. What was her name? Lotus?" I say as he inspects the picture. "It turns out that Nia has been doing some investigation herself and she thinks that our Mom was part of a big secret that happened a long time ago."

"Our parents have been friends for a long time, and we thought you might know what it meant. Uh, also you're looking at it upside down." Nia said, flipping the paper over and handing it back to Issac, who's face lit up in recognition. "Actually… I do remember this."

He got up and walked over to his desk and opened the bottom drawer. When he turned back to face us, he held a scuffed up, half crushed piece of metal that might have been a ring once.

On the face of the ring was a tiny stamped version of the seal on the envelope. He handed it to me and I looked it over at different angles with Nia right next to me, her dark brown eyes analyzing and memorizing every inch of the surface.

"Where did you find this?" She asked.

"In my driveway, my parents probably dropped it and ran over it several times. It looked important and uh, maybe valuable so I kept it." He said sheepishly.

My eye caught sight of something on the inner ring.

"There's something written here." I said as I held it up to the light. On scratch up letters, I was able to make out four words:

For the glory of M-

"For the glory of who?" I wonder aloud. "Whom." Nia corrects.

"Whom. whatever."

We all look at the ring again. "The M is capitalized." Issac points out. "It could be a name."

"Or a place." Nia adds.

_Hmmmmmmmm_.

We are jolted out of our pondering when there is a sharp, rapid knock on the door. Nia peeks out of the window.

"It's Mom! She doesn't look happy."

_Uh-oh._

Nia grabs her binder and I slip the ring into my jacket pocket as we hurry downstairs. We reach the bottom just as Mrs. Domsalski opened the door.

Sure enough, our Mom is on the other side, looking angry. No wait, furious.

_"JAMES DRAAL LAKE!"_

I flinched as she said my full name.

"What were you _thinking_ leaving the house without telling me!"

She was a mess. Her hair was in knots the way it was when she raked her hands through it while she paced. Her face was pale and she was yelling at me. My mother never yelled. Ever.

"B-but we go to Issac's house all the time..." Nia says quietly, even she seems shaken at Mom's sudden outburst. Mom let out a shaky breath. "I know, I'm sorry it's just-"

"Claire?" Uncle Toby's worried voice came from the kitchen. "Hey Tobes." My Mom said.

"I just got some troubling news."

All the adults in the room exchanged worried glances before turning their gaze to us. "We'll talk later. " Uncle Toby said.

Me, Mom and Nia sat in silence as we rode home in the car. Mom turned to face us. "Don't ever go anywhere without telling me from now on, okay?"

"Okay." Nia and I said.

Rain started to pelt the windows and I put my hands in my pockets, fingering the ring.

_What are you hiding, Mom?_


End file.
